Deep Throat opened in 1972, and quickly became the most successful pornographic movie in history, playing in mainstream theaters across the country. In this documentary, Bailey & Barbato explore how the movie became so popular, follow the movie's legal history (many obscenity trials), and examine the impact of Deep Throat on American culture.
There are interviews with many of the key players -- the movie's director, Gerard Damiano; the star, Harry Reems; many of the lawyers involved -- and with the expected assortment of talking heads -- Gore Vidal, John Waters, Ruth Westheimer, and the inevitable Camille Paglia among them.
The first half of the movie, about the making of Deep Throat, is the more successful half; Damiano is terrifically entertaining, spinning anecdotes about how the movie was written and filmed. The second half of the movie is less interesting, as Bailey & Barbato make overly grandiose claims about the ultimate importance of the movie; they also give somewhat short shrift to the post-Deep Throat life of Linda Lovelace, who would ultimately renounce the film and claim to have been forced into making it by an abusive husband.
Despite its flaws and overreaching, it's an entertaining documentary, often funnier than you'd expect it to be.
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